Death, Be Not Proud
by pingo1387
Summary: Zoro didn't survive his fight with Mihawk. Zoro survived his fight with Mihawk. Sort-of character death. One-shot.


Zoro was floating, he was sinking, he was rising, he was falling, he was awake, he was asleep, he was alive, he was dead.

 _Can you hear me?_

He frowned. He smiled.

 _Can you hear me?_

He spoke. He stayed silent. "Yes."

 _You must achieve your dream._

His brow furrowed. His face relaxed. "I know."

 _You are dead._

He opened his eyes. He closed his eyes. "I see."

 _You have another chance._

He clenched his fists. He relaxed his hands. "What do you mean?"

 _Give up your dream and forfeit your chance._

He nodded. He shook his head. "I don't understand."

 _Fight, Roronoa Zoro._

* * *

"Geez, are you okay?!"

Zoro opened his eyes, sputtering and coughing, and became aware of two bodies supporting his own. He stared at the water stained with his own blood and looked up with blurred vision at the man who had cut him down.

"We couldn't find a pulse," Usopp continued, almost crying, "we thought you were—"

"I died," Zoro said.

"No, you didn't, bro!" Johnny cried, sobbing. "You had us scared, but you're okay, dude! You're alive!"

"I died," Zoro repeated.

Usopp tapped his head. "You're fine! Come on, let's get you into the boat—we gotta fix you up and then go get Nami, remember?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, dazed. He let Usopp and Johnny drag him through the water to the boat and lift him into it, where he fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Let's see—um—medical supplies," Johnny said, looking around. He went to the small cabinet at the back of the boat. "Usopp, dude, help me out—"

"Right!" Usopp and Johnny rifled through the cabinet while Zoro stared at his hands. He held them up to the sky, and for a moment, they were tinged white with a passing cloud.

* * *

Zoro climbed up onto the pillar in Arlong Park, pulling off his bandana as the fight went on behind him. He sighed and closed his eyes, knowing Luffy would take it from there.

When he began sinking, he opened his eyes again and frantically pulled himself up when he found his body descending through the rock he rested on. His torso was almost transparent, and when he looked at his hands again, he saw the sea straight through them.

He held his breath, closing his eyes again, and when he opened them again his body was solid once more. Several minutes passed before he breathed out.

"Another chance, huh?" he murmured, leaning back against the pillar. "I understand."

* * *

"I would've been fine," Zoro insisted as he sewed his legs up, wincing.

"Like hell!" Usopp snapped, smacking the back of his head. "In the first place, how would you move around with no feet? In the second place, you'd lose too much blood to do anything! You'd die!"

"I wouldn't've died," Zoro said. His ankle flickered in opacity. "And I don't use my feet to fight."

Usopp threw up his hands in exasperation, storming away to keep watch with Luffy.

* * *

As soon as Zoro was out of bed, Chopper pulled him away to a private room.

"What?" he said, looking down to see Chopper glaring.

"What's going on with your body?" Chopper demanded.

"What about my body?" Zoro said.

"When you were unconscious, I was treating you," Chopper said, frowning, "and I kept missing with stitches! Do you know why?! Because your body, your body kept going intangible!"

"Intangible?"

"Like—the opposite of solid," Chopper said. Zoro stiffened as Chopper turned himself this way and that in frustration. "I don't get it, did you eat a Devil Fruit too, or—or what's—?"

Zoro knelt. "Hey, it's fine. I'm just dead."

Chopper froze and started to cry.

"Stop that," Zoro said, closing his eyes. "I died facing the strongest swordsman in the world. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"What do you mean?" Chopper whimpered.

"Someone gave me another chance." Zoro's hand fell through the floor as he spoke, and he opened his eyes and hastily lifted it out, catching his balance as it went solid again. "I'm staying here until I achieve my dream."

"And then—then you'll die? For real?"

"I don't think I'll be able to beat Hawkeye just yet," Zoro said, patting Chopper's head. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere for awhile. Don't tell the others, okay?" He tugged at his dressings. "I'm not sure I even need these . . ."

He looked up again to see Chopper still crying.

"Do you want me to keep the bandages on?"

Chopper nodded.

* * *

"You know something interesting?" Robin asked, sitting next to Zoro at the party on Shandora. He looked up, waiting.

"That whole time you were unconscious from Enel," she said, "you were sinking into the ground, over and over. It was like you weren't even there."

He looked away, keeping his mug at his lips to avoid conversation.

"I'm not asking you to talk about it," Robin said, standing. "If it's nothing to worry about, then that's all."

She wandered away. Zoro stared after her, and finally rolled his eyes, settling back onto the ground.

* * *

"You idiot," Sanji hissed. "What about your dream?!"

His hand grasped at Zoro's arm weakly before sliding down with him as he passed out. Zoro stared up at Kuma, kneeling.

"Take my head instead of _his,"_ he said. "A crew can't go on without their captain."

* * *

"Chopper?" Nami said, staring at Zoro in horror. "Something's happening . . ."

"What?" Chopper said. The Strawhats were gathered around Zoro, unconscious on the table, and Zoro was falling through the table as they stared.

"What is that?!" Usopp shrieked as Chopper found a solid part of Zoro and pulled him back up with Robin's help. "What's happening to him?! Is he a ghost?!"

Luffy stared. "I knew it. Something's wrong. Ever since that fight with Hawkeye, something's been . . ."

"That idiot," Sanji hissed.

"You know?" Luffy said, looking up.

"I sensed _something,"_ Sanji said, running a hand through his hair. "I'd hoped it was my imagination, but after all those times we sparred—"

"Someone wanna explain this?" Franky demanded as Chopper helped Zoro stay on the table. Zoro flickered in and out of existence. "What's happening to him?"

"Chopper," Luffy said, staring at him. "Tell us. We'll talk with Zoro when he's awake."

Chopper pulled on the brim of his hat. "He . . . he said not to tell anyone."

"Captain's orders. Tell us."

* * *

Zoro was floating, he was sinking, he was rising, he was falling, he was awake, he was asleep, he was alive, he was dead.

 _You have forfeited your dream._

He grinned. "I didn't."

 _You have forfeited your chance._

He opened his eyes. "Then why am I still here?"

 _You_

He stared. "I know why. My dream isn't just mine anymore."

 _Your dream_

He clenched his hands. "My friends . . . their dreams, their ambitions, they're as good as my own."

 _You have forfeited_

"I can't die until Franky's ship sails us to the end of the world," he said. "Until Usopp calls himself a brave warrior of the sea. Until Nami makes her map. Until Chopper creates the panacea. Until Robin learns the true history. Until the cook finds his All Blue. I can't die until Luffy becomes the Pirate King."

 _This was not in the agreement_

He spread out his arms. "Then take me! If our deal is truly broken, kill me!"

A rushing, blinding light filled his sight, and a screaming and ringing filled his ears. And when he opened his eyes again, he saw Chopper standing over him. Chopper, whose eyes filled with tears as he looked up and called out to someone. They appeared with tearful, relieved faces, one by one. Franky, Usopp, Nami, Robin, Sanji, and—

"Welcome back, dumbass," Luffy said.


End file.
